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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

September 27, 2016 | 2 min read

A Japanese ad promoting the eel farming industry of Shibushi city has invoked criticism and has been pulled after the creative showed a a teenage girl being fattened up and grilled (she’s later revealed to be an eel).

In the two-minute ad, a girl is seen playing by a pool side with a hula hoop as she is kept in a swimming pool while the narrator explains he is fattening her up. He said: "I fed her delicious food until she was full, and allowed her to get plenty of sleep.”

A shock reveal at the end shows she is in actual fact an eel with the last clip showing the girl-turned-eel being barbequed. The slot was supposed to show how much care goes into the eel farming.

In true Beach Body Ready style, the ad went viral in Japan before it was removed by the city for its disturbing implications of sexism and cannibalism.

A city official told the AFP “We’re aware that some people were offended, we just wanted to make a video that simply explains the city is known for eel farming.”

Shibushi will have to look at other ways to inform the public of its eel farming facilities.

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